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Live Show Recap: Car Photography with Easton Chang

Killer show this week! Easton Chang Skyped in from Australia and he was an absolute delight. Great info, great photos, all around great show.

We connected with Easton when he submitted an incredible photo for our live show on light painting where he painted a car with a rope on fire as his light source! Turns out he’s an incredibly talented and successful photographer who happens to like us for some reason.

Quick reminder at the top of the show: NO SHOW FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. Tony and Chelsea will be at Photokina in Germany! You can meet up with them and Matt Granger if you’re around, sdp.io/meetup. But two weeks from now the live show topic is Street Photography, so join us for that.

Tony gets the boring question out of the way first: What camera do you use, Easton? The answer is the Canon 5DS-R at home. Though he says most car photographers use Sony! His favorite lens is the 24-70.

T&C got the Fuji X-T2 and they love it! So much better than the initial X-T1.

Now over to Chit-Chat, the part of the show where we highlight mean/dumb/funny things you say to us in YouTube comments.

  • Turns out Tony really is chill, he laughs at terrible things people say about him. “Fake-looking James Bond villain reject.”
  • Chelsea and Tony are as perfect of a couple as Corey and Topanga.
  • Justin gave some guy a “broner.”
  • Justin made a video! People loved it and were weirdly supportive for being on the internet.
  • Guys, don’t bring presents to T&C! Maybe chocolate though.
  • Some guy has a weird fetish.
  • Fire Jason!

Chelsea asks Easton his favorite settings for car shoots, he loves shooting in the Outback and he tells an awesome story about it, so go listen! Seriously, just watch this show again and listen to his insane stories.

Alright, let’s look at your car photos! You guys really stepped up this week, there were some great shots. I’ll highlight our picks below:

  • right off the bat, great advice from Easton: shoot headlights as a separate exposure, pay attention to tire position. So much awesome behind-the-scene tips and techniques of the pros.
  • Ron Wolfe!
  • ok really, they hardly give any picks this show. Easton gives great advice for pretty much every picture. Just watch them all.

Over to me for some of your questions:

  • what’s the most dangerous shoot you’ve done, Easton? Harness mistake on the back of a truck! 
  • he can’t tell us his favorite car
  • what market is there for professional car photography before you hit the pro market? Car dealerships, car accessories, editorial photography, PR and social media.

Let’s look at a portfolio! This guy is really talented. He told us in the chat during the show that he’s only been shooting for 5 months! Lovely portraits, beef up your miscellaneous category, add some contact info and a close-up self portrait. And pricing! You can go pro.

Okay, back to your photos:

  • this guy was in the comments and wasn’t happy about the fact that Tony always says his shots are HDR, because they aren’t
  • Aston One-77
  • light painting truck!
  • spot color, but it works?
  • what is this car?

Ok more questions from the viewers:

  • polarizing filters, yay or nay? Sometimes! You don’t want to eliminate reflections, just make them clean and smooth.
  • how did you start shooting cars? Started with IT, got a car he loved and wanted to do a better job photographing it! Got a job shooting for car magazines a year later.
  • they talk cars for a while, this is all Greek to me
  • Chelsea Ferris Bueller’s cars at her family’s dealerships

Back to photos:

  • nice light
  • this insane car in front of a Globemaster
  • BMW M3
  • good light painting, just needs some cleanup
  • oh hi, it’s me! Shameless self-promotion.
  • guys, no. What? Why.
  • “maybe you can’t own a Ferrari, but you can make a Ferrari”
  • good way to shoot at a car show
  • look at this fake-ass Delorian, taking Chelsea’s advice from 2 minutes ago

Back to me for some questions:

  • keep on the license plate or blank it out? It’s a personal choice or based on the job.
  • question from Tony about balancing the color balance and exposure when shooting from inside a car. No quick fix, apparently. Reflectors, interior light, or just blow out the outside.

Back into photos:

A few more questions for Easton before we head out:

  • how to shoot car interiors? Shooting mixed material is hard to light, getting lights and proper camera angles inside a car is also difficult.
  • what % of making great car shots is the car and what percent is the photographer? Technically, the photographer matters more. As far as social media likes and attention, it’s all about the car.

And that’s our show! Easton gave us incredible tips and info on shooting cars. 

We’ll see you in two weeks for street photography! Thanks folks.